European shares edge higher, Italy debt sale eyed

By IBT Staff Reporter On 12/29/11 AT 3:24 AM

European shares rose on Thursday in low volume, recovering from the previous session falls, on hope there would be demand at an Italian auction of long-term sovereign debt after the European Central Bank's three-year funding operation last week.

Volume is low and I hope we have a reasonable result at the Italian auction, but we are stuck in a trading range, Andrea Williams, manager of Royal London Asset Management's European Income fund.

The ECB three-year funding has been a great thing as it has brought a lot of stability to the system and the market.

At 8:07 a.m., the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 983.83 points.

Mining stocks featured among the top performers, STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index which fell in the previous gained 0.6 percent as risk appetite improved. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson)